Jacob Christensen

If you’re not Danish or under 40, the name Bo Bojesen probably won’t mean too much to you.

If, on the other hand, you are Danish, over 40 and from Copenhagen, the name will mean a lot to you and bring back a lot of memories.

For almost 40 years, Bo Bojesen was the leading editorial cartoonist at the daily newspaper Politiken and his works gave and still give a fascinating insight into the development of Danish politics and Danish society at large from the mid-1940s until his retirement in 1993.

Even if Bojesen became an icon during his lifetime, he was not alone: Danish newspapers have a long tradition of employing cartoonists and using cartoons as an integral part of reporting and commenting. He belonged to a distinguished line starting with Alfred Schmidt who was active during the first decades of the 20th Century, continuing with Herluf Jensenius who reached his prime during the inter-war era, and with Roald Als as the main contemporary representative.

In my opinion, Bojesen was at his best from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, but his earlier and later work is still very much enjoyable. The crazyness of much of Danish politics during the 1970s and the upheavals of the 1960s obviously inspired him, though.

Over his long career, Bojesen’s style changed markedly, even if his drawings always retained an instantly recognizable “Bojesen flair”. His early work was almost baroque and highly detailed, almost crowded, but from the mid-1960s onward, he refined his style so that the cartoons from later years would often only contain the information essential to understand the message.

Bojesen mixed realism, caricature and gentle humour in a blend which I think is characteristic of the Danish cartoon tradition. An element of self-mockery, even self-depreciation also belongs to the mix. It is not easily understood by outsiders, even if Svenska Dagbladet’s artist Jan Berglin comes close.

Bojesen was first and foremost a professional. He retired in 1993 at the age of 70, passed the baton to Roald Als and stopped making editorial cartoons.

Obituary in Politiken: Bo Bojesen d�d, 83 �r.